28 March 2024

Adíos to Raffel Pagès: A True Global Hair Icon

It is with great sadness that Estetica shares the news of the death of our good friend and global hair icon, Raffel Pagès. Hairdresser, businessman and historian of hairdressing, he died at dawn on Sunday May 9 in Barcelona, at the age of 78.

A wonderful human being, an inspiring artist, an overwhelmingly successful businessman, Raffel was the founder and director of the chain of salons that bears his name and which currently has 80 establishments in Spain, employing more than 300 people. The son of a hairdresser, he learned to love hairdressing at the prestigious Carita in Paris, under the guidance of his mentor and teacher, Rosy Carita. There, in glamorous Paris, in that legendary salon, his soul as a hairdresser was formed, theoretically, philosophically and emotionally. Back in Barcelona, he worked with his father and his brother in the family business on Calle Muntaner, before opening his own salon in the Sarrià neighbourhood, at number 16 Calle Reina Elisenda. In the mid-70s he began to travel throughout Europe, starring in shows, seminars and ateliers,  where he conveyed his passionate understanding for the profession – something Raffel called “Emotional Hairdressing” – not only carried out with the hands, but with the senses  and emotions.

In the Olympic year of Barcelona 92, he inaugurated his renowned Instituto de Perfeccionamiento, a temple of education where thousands of hairdressers have been trained and the starting point of the exponential growth of his firm in the 90s. Raffel Pagès opens salons throughout Spain, in Italy and even in his beloved Paris, consolidating itself as one of the main chains of hairdressers in Europe. For Raffel Pagès, the keys to success are his four I’s: Investing, Investigating, Intuiting and Innovating – in addition to continuing to firmly believe in continuous training, with the aim of never stopping evolving: “You have to learn throughout your life, I am still learning and will continue to do so until the end of my days. “

Passionate about art and history, he began to collect objects related to the hairdressing profession in 1960, until founding the most important Museum of the History of Hairdressing in the world, located in the central Rambla de Catalunya in Barcelona and that today exceeds the 14,000 pieces. In recent years, Raffel received in London the prestigious Hair Legend Award from the hands of the AIPP (International Association of the Hairdressing Press) during the world famous Alternative Hair Show, while continuing to dedicate much of his time to growing his Museum and following the in front of his chain of salons together with his two daughters, Carolina and Quionia Pagès, who continue to lead the firm today, respecting the pure essence with which it was founded.

Estetica has followed the brilliant career of Raffel Pages for more than four decades, since his first successful show at Cosmoprof 1975, when our founder Mino Pissimiglia dedicated an article to him proclaiming him a “new star in hairdressing”. Throughout time, there have been countless encounters, shared stories, articles … together with Raffel, with whom we have always been united by a great friendship. In addition, Estetica was in charge of the edition of her books ‘One Hundred Years of Hairdressing’ (2009) on the occasion of L’Oréal’s centenary and the catalog of the exhibition ‘Art Coiffure – The Raffel Pages Collection’ (2010). Roberto Pissimiglia, International Editor of EsteticaNetwork and good friend of Raffel Pages, comments: “He leaves us a great hairdresser of all time. A great hairdresser and a great passionate about the profession. Great historian and collector. Great personal friend and A great supporter of Estetica. His talent, his affability, his charisma, his generosity and his professional success will remain forever alive in the memory. “

Our deepest condolences go to his wonderful family and to his many friends in the hairdressing world. RIP, Raffel Pages, you will always be with us.

 

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